Table-rail tenoning and grooving machine



(No Model.)

Patented Feb. 3, 1885,

U u R in a L y T7 JL. J L N N I 4.4. ie n *1; m- H .jittesi; &

'yzj flwfl I Inventor:

N. PETERS Photo-Lilhogmpher. Washington. D. c.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

H. J. DURGIN.

TABLE RAIL TENONING AND VGROOVING MACHINE. No. 311,822. Patented Feb. 3, 1885.

(No ModeL) a Sheets-Sheet 3.

H. J. DURGIN.

I TABLE RAIL TENONING AND GROOVING MAOHINE. No. 311,822. Patented Feb. 3, 1886.

proved table.

ilnrrhn Stuarts Parana @l lFfCE.

HENRY J. DURGIN, OF ROCHESTER, NEV YORK.

TABLE-RAIL TENONING AND GROOVING MACE-NE.

.cc ECIPICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 311,822, dated February 3, 1885.

Application filed August 20, 1834.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY J. DURGIN, of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented a new and use ful Improvement in Table-Rail Tenoning and Grooving Machines, which improvement is fully set forth in the following specification and shown in the accompanying drawings.

A patent, No. 206,234, was issued July 23, 1878, to H. 0. Hall and myself for an im- Referring to said Letters Patent, it will be seen that the rails of the table are provided at each end with a tenon and a dovetail transverse groove in which to receive theends of the corner-braces of the frame. The ends of the corner braces are formed to closely fit the respective grooves in the rails,

. and to shoulder against the adjacent surfaces and all fit equally well when put together in their proper places to form complete tables. Particularly is it necessary to form the dovetail groove (which I now slightly change in form of cross-section from that shown in said patcut) and the part of the rail against'which the corner -brace shoulders accurately, and preserve a uniformity of distance between said groove and the adjacent shoulderof the tenon of each rail.

To produce a machine that will accurately form or shape one end of a rail complete in one operation-that is to say, to precisely form the dovetail groove and the tenon and straighten or true up the surface of the rail against which the corner-brace sh0uldersis the object of my present invention.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1, Sheet 1, is a view of the machine as seen when looking downward from a point directly over the same, parts being broken away and omitted and other parts drawn in simple outline, the rail for the table-frame being shown in position to be carried against the cutters; Fig. 2, a front elevation of the same, viewed as indi. cated by arrow 00 in Fig. 1, showing more clearly the relative position of the cutters,

(No model.)

parts not essential to the description being broken away and omitted; Fig. 3, Sheet 2, a rear elevation of the more essential parts of the machine, viewed as indicated by arrow y in Fig. 1, showing more clearly the diagonal or inclined spindle, the relative position of the cutters, and the irrelation to the table-rail being acted upon, parts at the left being omitted; Fig. 4., a front elevation of the cutterhead designed to form the rectangular part of the transverse groove of the rail and shape the surface of the rail to receive the shoulder of the corner-brace; Fig. 5, a reverse view of the same, showing more clearly the wing-cutter for surfacing the rail to receive the shoulder of the brace and the rear spur-cutters; Fig. 6, an edge view of said cutter head, viewed as indicated by e in Fig. 4, showing further the form and dimensions of said head and the relative arrangement of the wingcutters; Fig. 7, Sheet 3, a plan view taken at the corner of the table-frame, with the top board of the table omitted, serving to show the parts at one corner of the frame properly joined, and to show the necessity of accurate work in shaping said parts at their contiguous surfaces, the leg being horizontally sectioned at the upper surface of the tenons; Fig. 8, a front elevation of the rear cutterhead secured to the spindle carrying the cutter-head shown in Fig. 4, it being the cutterhead that forms the upper half or surface of the tenon as the rail is urged against the cutters, said cutter-head and cutters being similar to those shown in Figs. 4, 5, 6; Fig. 9, an edge view of the cutter-head shown in Fig. 8, viewed as indicated by arrow or in Fig. 8;

Fig. 10, a view of the five cutters necessary to shape one end of a rail, shown as if in the act of cutting away the wood thereof, each performing its part to shape the rail, as stated, the view being taken from the same direction from which Fig. 3 is seen; and Fig. 11, a view of a part at one end of a rail, showing more fully the dovetail groove of the same; Figs. 4: to 11, inclusive, being drawn to larger scales than that to which the first three figures are drawn.

Referring to the parts, A, Fig. 2, is the frame of the machine, of common form, upon the uptoo ' ter-heads G, G, and H, respectively, to assist in forming the table-rail. A carriage, L, resting upon two horizontal guides or ways, N N, rising above the frame and placed at right angles thereto, serves to hold the table rail or work U in place to be formed. The

. cutter'heads G and H of the spindles E and F are similar, and the former is placed directly over the latter, each serving to form a part of the tenon T on the end of the rail as thelatter is forced between them, as indicated in Fig. 3, Sheet 2, and Fig. 10, Sheet 3. The

spindles E and F are rotated in opposite directions, as indicated by arrows, by means of belts upon pulleys R R of the spindles.

I, Figs. 1 and 3, is a spindle secured in an inclined position in rear of the frames, resting in journal-boxes t t of a block, a. This block is fitted to a plate, r, so' as to be horizontally adjusted thereon by means of an adjusting-screw, 2', held in a notch in a projection, 0, of the plate, and threaded in said block a. The plate r is fitted in a vertical position to the overhanging offset end 8 of the spindle-frame D, so as to be vertically adjusted thereon by means of an adj listing-screw, a, passing up through a projection, b, at the bottom of the plate, and threaded in the offset part 8 aforesaid.

The spindle I, I prefer to incline at an angle of forty-five degrees with a horizontal, said spindle being employed to carry a cutter, K, at its upper end, which, on account of the position of the spindle, is held in rearof the cutter G, said cutter K serving to form the triangular or dovetail part of the groove 0 in the rail, as will be hereinafter fully explained. The spindle I is rotated in its bearings by means of a belt upon the pulley P, in the usual manner. The rail is first sawed to the right size and length by usual means, it being,when brought to the tenoning and groovingmachinc herein described, a plain board with two of the corners, t t", slightly clipped, as appears in Fig. 1. By inspecting Fig. 11 it will be .seen that the groove or dado O in the rail is made up in cross-section of a rectangular part, cm a a and a triangular part, a a a On-account of the brace S, Fig. 7, of the table-frame extending across the corner of the frame at an angle of fortyfive degrees, I make'the angle at a equal to forty-five degrees, causing the line a a of the groove to correspond in direction with the line of the brace. The outer cutter, G, of the spindle E is designed to form the rectangular portion a a a a of the dado or groove 0 as the rail is urged against it by the attendant, which portion of the groove is out out while the cutters G and H are forming the tenon T. The periphery of the inclined cutter K is beveled at an angle of forty-five degrees with the plane of the cutter, the beveled edge 0 thereby becoming horizontal at the bottom thereof, and the cutter is so adjusted with reference to the cutter G that its beveled surface or edge e at the bottom is on an exact level with the periphery of the cutter G at the bottom thereof. From this form and relative position of the cutter K it is enabled to cut out the triangular part a a a of the dado after the rectangular part of the same has been cut away by the cutters G, as stated, the two-cutters acting together to form the dado, so that thebase line a a of the same shall'be straight and the surface thereat a continuous plane. After which together form the tenon and the rectangular portion of the dado, the carriage L,

passing the group of cutters G, G, and H,

holding the work, is pushed farther on by the attendant, carrying the rail against the cutter K, for the purpose stated. The rail U is held firmly upon the carriage, to resist the pressure of the cutters, by a simple clamp-lever, h, the rail resting against a cleat or stop, k, of the carriage. The sliding frames 0 and D are adjusted vertically by screw-rods d and f, in the usual manner. The horizontal and vertical adjustments of the inclined cutter K, above mentioned, are of greatimportance, they forming means by which to bring the cutter to its exact place, to operate in assisting to form the groove in the rail. The cutter needs to be vertically adjusted to bring the beveled part of the periphery at the lower limb thereof to exactly coincide with the horizontal plane touching the bottom of the groove formed by the cutter G, so that the bottom of the groove, when completed, shall he an even plane, as already stated. -'Lhe cutter must also be adj usted by a horizontal movement, so as to form the triangular part a a" a ofthe groove, bringing theline of the timber at a to an edge without enlarging the width of the groove at the top or along the line a a. The cutter is indirectly secured to the sliding frame D, and moves up or down with the vertical adjustments of the latter, and the means of independent adj ustment of the cutter above described are provided to bring the cutter back to place af: ter the cutter H has been vertically adjusted to give the required thickness to the tenon of the rail. The cutter-head G is provided with four spur-cutters, d, two on each face, which cutters are thin blades of steel held to the cutter-head in such manner as to move edgewise against the wood of the rail, like a circular saw. These cutters project some distance beyond the body V of the cutter-head, their projecting ends being provided with teeth, as shown, and are set so as to cut a very little deeper into the Wood than the smooth-edged peripheral cutters d of the cutter-head. They mark out or define the groove to be cut by a narrow kerf or crease in advance of the action of the peripheral cutters d, which remove the wood between the lines formed by the spur-cutters. The spur cutters are fitted in shallow dovetail recesses formed radially in the two faces of the body V of the cutter-head, opposite each other, said'cutters being held in place by bolts b, each passing througha pair of cutters and the body of the cutter-head. One use of spur-cutters is to prevent the peripheral cutters tearing or splintering the wood on each side of the groove as they strikeinto the wood, and to make smoother sides for the groove. The cutter-head G, Sheet 3, is similarly provided on one side with spur-cutters c and with peripheral cutters c, as shown. The cutter-head H is the same as the cutter-head G,

having thesame cutters, but rotating; with contrary motion, as already stated. Gutters f f, similar to the peripheral cutters d d, are also secured to ledges p p, projecting from the rear face of the'body V of the cutter-head G,.as

shown, said cutters ff being placed nearer the axis of the head G than the cutters d, so as to not cut so deeply into the wood of the rail, the same being placed in position to just surface the rail at 0, Figs. 7 and 10. This secures a uniformity of the distance a a ofthe grooves in all the rails, by means of which the shoulders 0 of the uniformly made brace rest snugly against the rails at owhen the ends of the braces bear against the bottoms of the grooves or along the lines a a.

\Vhat Iclaim as my invention, and wish to patent, is-

1. In a machine for shaping rails for tableframes, a rotating spindle, E, provided with a cutter-head, G, for forming one side of the tenon of the rail, and a similar adjacent cuttenhead, G, for forming a transverse groove, 0, in the rail parallel to the shoulder of the tenon, said latter cutter-head being provided at each side with a spur cutter or marker, 12, and body-cutter d, and a side or wing cutter,

4 5 f, for surfacing the rail adjacent to the groove,

substantially as described.

2. In a machine for shaping rails for tableframes, the cutter G, for forming the rectangular portion of the groove 0, said cutter be ing held upon or secured to ahorizontal spindle, E,and the inclined cutter K, for forming the triangular portion of said groove, secured to an inclined spindle, I, the latter cutter being held on a line with and in rear of the former cutter, in combination with a horizontal sliding carriage, L, for holding the rail and carrying the latter successively against the said cutters as said carriage advances along its bearings N N, substantially as set forth and shown.

3. In a machine for shaping rails for tableframes, the combination of the horizontal spindle E, provided with the cutter-heads G and G, the parallel horizontal spindle F, provided with the cutter-head H, said spindles being held one above the other in bearings, with the cutter-head G directly over and opposite the cutterhead H,and the inclined spindle I, provided with a cutter, K, held in line with and in rear of the cutter G, all operating conjointly to complete one end of a rail at one advance movement of the latter upon the sliding carriage L, substantially as set forth.

4. In a machine for shaping rails for tableframes, in combination with a horizontal spindle, E, provided with cutterheads G and G, an inclined spindle, I, provided with a cutter, K, the latter being held in line with and in rear of the cutter G, vertical and horizontal adjusting devicesuand i,to adjust the inclined cutter K with reference to the cutter G, and a sliding carriage, L, for holding the work and carrying the latter against the cutters above named, substantially as shown.

5. In a machine for shaping rails for tableframes, the combination of the horizontal spindle E, provided with cutter-heads G and G,the horizontal parallel spindle F, provided with the cutter-head H, and the inclined spindle I, provided with the cutter K, all operating conjointly to complete one end of a rail, with a sliding carriage, L, for holding the rail while being formed, and carrying the same against said cutters in a line at right angles with the axis of said spindles, substantially as specified.

H. J. DURGIN.

Witnesses:

E. B. WHITMORE, K. M. ORoNK. 

